Toy locomotive



June 16, 1953 GOWLAND 2,641,865

TOY LOCOMOTIVE Fi ed April 5, 1948 Inventor Mttorney Patented June 16,1953 i' TOY, LOCOMOTIVE .J ohn" Pinkney Gowland; Palo Alto', Calif.

... Applic'ati01LApril 5,

1948, SerialLNo..,19,041

1' IriGreat Britain April 8, 194;?

ZIGlaims. 1

."This' inventionprovidesa; toy or amusement 'device'in whicha"toy"figure"or object is- 'con- ""structed withrigid 'end parts*connected" by an "intermediate body part WhiClTiS expansible andcontractible" and is normally maintained in expanded or contractedcondition byspring or'like means, control means being provided foreffecting relativemovement of the end parts against "the action of thespring 'or like means so as to contract or expand (as 'the'case'may be)the intermediate part. According to a feature of the invention, theintermediate part iscon structed 'as' a bellows, and according to, aim-"ther feature of the invention, suchbellows-may be adapted, under thecontrol"'of-"said control means; to operate a sound-producing deviceconcealed within the toy figure orobject.

According to a further feature of the invention,

'the' toy figure or object preferably'is mounted "on-wheels-onis'otherwise adapted to behauled= or pushed along the' ground or some othersupporting surface; and is provided with a-lead or 'handle for haulingor pushing it "and also with a control member such as a rod, wire, cordor the likewhich extendsfromthe lead-or handle and is attached tooneoftheendparts of the toy figure or object for eflfectingthe relativemovement 'of the two end: parts. "*Such a toy may be providedwith alead'co nprisi-ng a Bowden cable or similar, device having a" sheathwithin whichextends awire; cord" or the like control member, thesheathand inner, control member being respectively connected directly'orindirect- 1y to theztwoLendzparts'of 'rtheztoyfi-figure or object, sothat relative longitudinal movementapa plied to the sheath andinner..member otthe. lead causes relative movement of-the twocend-spartsv.ior actuatingthe intermediate body partfoi the Y toy figure. .orobject.

:In constructing toys according to ltheinvenz'tion, the two end partsmay be .connectedby a coil'spring of diameter suitable to formtheintert.m'edi'ate'body part, the'ends of'the spring'bearing against suitableabutment surfaces onthe end parts respectively, .ancl'eachx'end part may"be.

provided with a boss which projects from its abutment surface andifitsinto :the .endrof the spring, so a to serve for locating the spring andparts have-the headhand limbs ofthe. figure'ythese members may .be rigidwith their respective end parts;-or alternativelmone or more of thesemembets-may be articulated tdthe respectiveend 5 part andarranged to bemoved relativelythereto by the contraction 'and'expansion of thei'ntermediate body'part. Suchan;articulatedimember may, "for example; beheld against a socket or seating on the bodypart'by'meansfofa wire, cordor'other suitable'delvice connecting the member to the intermediatebodypartoriits'sprin 'means so that,'for"examplehthe connecting wire orthe like is alternately tensionediand 'sla'ckened or otherwise;'actuat'ediby the. movement of "the intermediate bodyitpart orits;spring:means so as to move thermemberypivotally; e g.;' up and down.Thus,"for'example,"thefigure.mayr;.be I

-providedwith: a head and legs separately artic- 'ulated'to their. end;.parts'iand all connected, singly and/or imgroups: of "two or-"more"members togetherytethespring means.

' The'invention is jsusceptibleipf numerous con- 'structional forms.Some embodiments of the in- "vention-are illustrated. in" theaccompanying 25'drawing,--in which Fig. 1 shows one embodiment in.perspective; Fig; 2'is a side 'view of a second. embodiment, showninactuated position; and

Fig. 3yis alongitudinal section of a'third em- 5 b-odiment.

"Theitoy; figure shown'inll'ig. 1 representsva -mock' human. figure andis constructed .with'. a "rigid. lowerrend: part :HJ havin orrepresenting the; legs: and "feet of'ithe figure. on, I which isg'mounted a'collap'sible body part I l which is surmounted byari'gid'end part'12 representinglthe headyand shoulders and-"equippedWithmoyable arms I241. V

' The" collapsible part -.II is formed by; a. coil 46 spring l3 whichconnectsithe two en :1.parts w .IB and I2 togethen'the ends jof 'f the.spring. bearing against suitablejabutment facesxon theend parts .10 and12- respectively .andeach oflthoseiend parts being provided with a bossI l-whichprojects from its. abutment face. andrfitsinto the .end of thespring I3,so as to serve J for. locating and attachingf-the sprin and,endparts .':to-

...gether, a flexible-or telescopic tubular covers,

e. g., of fabric, being fitted over the spring and 50 secured at itsends to the end parts It and I2 around their bosses M. The figure isshown as being fixed by its lower end part III in a substantially erectposition on a wheeled platform or carriage I6 to which is attached theouter 55 sheath l! of a lead I 8 as above mentioned, the

inner member IQ of which extends through the carriage l6 and figure andis attached to the upper end part |2 of the figure. The outer end of thelead I8 is terminated by a suitable handle 20 attached to the sheath l7,and the corresponding end of the inner control member H3 is attached toa suitable element, shown as a ring 2|, providing a fingerhold ortrigger which may readily be engaged and pulled by a finger of a handgripping the handle 20. Such a pull on the inner member l9 relatively tothe sheath ll of the lead will pull the upper end part 12 of the figuredownwards and so compress its body part I I against the action of thespring |3 which normally holds the body part extended. The body part maybe made as a bellows for operating a suitable sound-producing device, e.g. of the conventional reed type, concealed in the figure, for instance,in the upper end part l2 in the vicinity of the mouth, or representationthereof, of the figure. For operating such a sound-producing device, thecover I5 of the body part II is made reasonably airtight.

The second embodiment of the invention as shown in Fig. 2 represents amock figure of a quadruped animal such as a dog and is constructed withrigid end parts 22 and 23 represen ing the fore and hind quartersrespectively, which are connected by an intermediate collapsible bodypart 24, the legs or feet of the figure being fitted individually withwheels or rollers 25. The collapsible body part 24 is similarly formedas in the embodiment of Fig. 1, by a coil spring 26 enclosed by afiexible cover 21, which are secured to the end parts 22 and 23similarly as described with reference to Fig. 1. The outer sheath ll ofthe tubular lead I8 is fixed to the fore part 22, and the inner controlmember IQ of the lead extends through the fore part 22 and body part 24of the figure and is attached to the hind part 23 so that a pull on theinner member I9 relatively to the sheath I! of the lead l8, by means ofthe handle 20 and ring 2| of the lead, draws the hindquarters part 23 ofthe figure towards its forequarters part 22. The toy may be constructedso that this action causes the hind part to sink, as shown in Fig. 2,thus simulating the animal sitting down on its haunches. In thisembodiment, as in the case of Fig. 1, the body part 24 may beconstructed as an air bellows for operating a suitable sound-producingdevice provided in the figure, for instance, in the vicinity of itsmouth. Instead of fitting the legs of such a figure individually withwheels 25, the

figure may be mounted on a wheeled platform or carriage, the fore legsbeing fixed tothe carriage and the hind legs being free to slide on it.

In another embodiment as shown in Fig. 3, a figure representing a toylocomotive is constructed with two rigid end parts 28 and 29 eachmounted on a pair of wheels 30, the part 28 representing the front endand funnel of the locomotive and the other part 29 the cab, these partsbeing connected by an intermediate collapsible part 3| representing theboiler. Similarly as in the embodiment of Figs. 1 and 2, the part 3| isformed by a coil spring 32 enclosed by a flexible cover 33 and similarlysecured to the end parts 23 and 29. In this case, the part 3| ispreferably constructed as an air bellows, with the cover 33 reasonablyairtight, and a whistle 34 is suitably arranged, for instance, in thefunnel of the front part, as shown, so as to be blown upon the bellowsboiler being collapsed by operation of the inner control member IQ ofthe tubular lead I8. For this purpose, the outer sheath I! of the leadis fixed to the front part 28 and the inner control member |9 extendsthrough the parts 28 and 3| of the toy and is attached to the rear orcab part 29.

I claim:

1. A wheeled pull-along toy representing a locomotive having alongitudinally extending boiler, the toy comprising a front partrepresenting the front end of the boiler, a pair of running wheelsrotatably attached to said front part, a rear part separate from saidfront part representing a drivers cab, a further pair of running wheelsrotatably attached to said rear part, a cylindrical longitudinallycollapsible bellows interposed between said front and rear parts torepresent a substantially cylindrical further portion of the boiler, oneend of said bellows being attached to said front part to form acontinuation of said front end of the boiler and the other end of saidbellows being attached to said rear part to represent the boilerconnection to said drivers cab, whereby said bellows forms a removableconnection between said front and rear parts, spring means in saidbellows for normally maintaining it in its substantially cylindricalextended position, a flexible sheath attached to the said front part, aflexible core positioned within said sheath for longitudinal movementtherein, one end of said core extending from said attached end of thesheath and being connected to the rear part of the toy, and manual 1yoperable actuating means for exerting a pull at the free end of saidcore relative to said sheath to longitudinally contract said bellowsagainst the action of said spring means, thereby reducing thedistancebetween said front and rear wheels.

2. A toy as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a whistle inpneumatic communication with the interior of said bellows, wherebymovement of said bellows to vary the distance between said front andrear wheels causes the whistle to be sounded.

JOHN PINKNEY GOWLAND.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 202,990 Chinnock Apr. 30, 1878 281,360 Hall July 17, 1883381,922 Hale May 1, 1888- l,098,303 Steiner et al. May 26, 19141,276,224 Isaaks Aug. 20, 1918 1,669,993 Muller May 15, 1928 2,022,861Long Dec. 3, 1935 2,224,456 Janas Dec. 10, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS NumberCountry Date 141,544 Great Britain Apr. 22, 1920 631,749 France Sept.20, 1927

